So it’s on. Cyclocross season is here. For a guy responsible for a new ecomm site with the domain name “Cyclocross.com,” that means life’s about to get a little busy.

But good-busy. My six-year-old cowbell-ringing assistants and I headed out to what’s become the season opener for ‘cross in the Portland area, the Gran Prix Tina Brubaker. Photos were taken. Cowbells were rung. Course markings were repaired.

Baden, no big surprise, really hates broken course tape and overturned cones. I’m pretty sure he would’ve redriven the barrier stakes completely rebuilt the upper barrier section of the course himself if there hadn’t been that whole “race” thing going on right over his head.

Round one at the David Douglas Park in Vancouver, WA one was about ten miles from my house. This is entirely new to me, this “we can actually go there in under a seven hours” thing, and I’m rapidly getting used to it. Next weekend’s race is almost 19 miles away, though, and that feels like an eternity now.

At any rate, my time is all cyclocross, all the time right now, and that has me wondering how I’d build the ultimate ‘cross bike. Clearly, the collective intelligence of those who read Canootervalve is somewhere between IBM’s Big Blue and “all NASA put together,” so I’m throwing it out there:

What features would make for the ultimate ‘cross bike?

Disc only, I’m thinking, at this point; tapered head tube and PressFit 30 bottom bracket with an eccentric option for the single-speed contingent. Stupid big tire clearance, thanks to the discs and 135mm rear spacing. Full cable housing. Maybe build in a mount for a K-Edge Chain Catcher. Other than some key geometry decisions (I’m thinking 69mm BB drop), what am I leaving out?

And what about frame material? The number of aluminum frames out there doing well in ‘cross races tends to still be really high, and steel will probably always be great for ‘cross.

And what would I call the project if I got serious and opened a folder on it?